686 Advice With Wooden Grips?

[martyg]

What is your experience in shooting and concealing a 686 3 inch and 4 inch using wooden grips vs. rubber grips? I understand wood does not catch clothing like rubber does. I am interested in the finger type combat wood grips. Do you find the wood grip to be more difficult to hold on to than rubber when sweating? Does checkering on the wood grip tend to irritate your hand when firing .357 magnums?

Thanks

[HAWKEYE10]

I like wood grips also. I think they look better and feel better. Here is my 686-0 with Hogue grips. Don

[.357 mag]

I agree. I like the feel of wood vs. rubber. These are hogue camo lambo finger grooves on a 66-2

[Chriss]

I carried my 4" 586 with Pachmayer presentations for many, many years. They are the old model, without medallions, and that's important because the old ones were harder and less prone to either snag or stick in your hand. They didn't thrill me with their appearance, but damn, they felt good to shoot. Yes, my draw was more deliberate with them, but once we were clear of the leather that was what I wanted in my hand.
For the last couple of years I've used a wood Hogue monogrip, without finger grooves. (In the school of combat pistolcraft I went to, [thanks Rocky and Chuck,] I was taught to stay away from finger groove stocks on combat pistols. There's a number of reasons for this, but bottom line, although they feel good when you're sitting in your easy-chair fondling your piece, when the **** hits the fan your fingers will come down on the ridges, not the grooves.) This stock doesn't snag anything, is much more concealable, and just feels right. And it looks right on my blue gun. I find I grip the gun more firmly with the Hogues, (that's a good thing,) and it sits lower in my hand (another good thing.) I'm packing/shooting regularly the Cor Bon 125gr. HP, and this round is managable with the Hogue grips, but you need to shoot it a bunch right up front to get the feel of them.
So, I guess I would it up as:
If you don't shoot much, the Pachy's will probably serve you best, but you're still going to need to practice the draw. But if you just spend a little time with your piece and your carry load, the Hogue's may work out better. I'd suggest spending time at the range with both grips and your carry ammo and see what you think. The $40 you spend on either of the grips is money well spent. Then you'll knopw what works best for you.

[flgolfer29]

I like the look and feel of the wood grips, however, when target shooting I prefer the stock rubber grips. I have not noticed a problem concealed carry with the rubber grips.



Hogue


Hogue

[4011]

Carried a 686 as a duty weapon and off duty for many years and the rubber worked better for me.

[Sarge45]

This is a 2" Smith with grips by Smith & Wesson. These buggers are "slick" when touching off full house .357 loads. The Hogue rubbers are much easier to handle but these look better.

[trex1310]

Here's my 686-6 with Ahrend's grips.

[Rio Vista Slim]

The photo below is my Model 686-6 Plus (3 inch barrel) with Eagle Grips "Secret Service" smooth stocks. These are much more concealable than the issued rubber grips, but admittedly present more difficulty in grasping the weapon during rapid fire.



Since the weather is turning so hot here in Texas, I've been carrying something smaller than the 686 for the past month or so.

[Snapping Twig]

Hogue, rosewood, finger, smooth.

[kennyb]

i like the S&W fingergroove combats

[ChinaSeaSailor]

try these

[Wayne M]

Wood for lookin', rubber for shootin'.

[one eye joe]

Gotta agree with Chriss and his mentors on the finger groove issue. They look cool--esp on RB snubbies--but they get in the way in the heat of battle. I like Pachmayr Compacs on my carry revolvers and Ahrends Moradillo wood on my target revolvers. NO finger grooves on either.......